New Memories
by WolfWinks
Summary: Hermione had grown up in the cafe and now it was time to introduce her boyfriend to the place. Her whole life was written in those walls, and it always will be.


**Notes:** Written for QLFC Finals 1: PROMPTS: An example of foreshadowing AND an example of juxtaposition, Ron/Hermione (Debs OTP), ADITIONAL PROMPTS: (song) 'Not Today' by Imagine Dragons, (word) forgive, (setting) a Muggle café

* * *

There was a small cafe in the centre of town. It was a dull looking place; run down, but clean and its name was constantly changing. It was a popular place for those who knew of it and a forgettable place for ones that didn't. The owners were two elderly best friends who founded the cafe when they were barely out of school.

"Young and stupid, we were," one would say whenever they were asked about the origin of the cafe. She was the one with the wild pink hair (because if she was going to hide the grey strands, she was going to do it well) and a name that danced off the tongue like a fairy.

The other woman would scoff and roll her eyes at her friend. "Oh, Lori, you only say that because the first day we opened you ended up in the ER," she would mutter, but never loud enough for her friend to hear. "Apparently, oven mitts are useless," she would whisper to anyone who would listen with a wink.

She wore her grey hair proudly, letting it run down her back in long rivers of silver stands. She never pinned it up or tried to hide it, only making sure it was away from her face when she handled the food. She refused to admit to anyone her full name, though. "Just call me Eva," she would say.

They could never agree on anything when anyone asked about their cafe, except for one thing.

"It's a place for couples," they would say, smiling at each other. "We both broke up with our boyfriends before we bought the place, and we met our husbands here." (One divorce was finalised in the cafe as well, but that's still a sore topic even years later.)

Hermione first remembers being introduced to the cafe when she was five. She walked into the cafe and both elderly women smiled, greeting each of her parents by name.

"Which life changing moment will be lived today in our humble walls," Eva asked with a cheeky grin (she looked like Henry Goldwin when he was about to prank someone).

Hermione remembers her features pulling into a frown, her sharp mind already trying to figure out what the words meant and why both her parents blushed at them. She doesn't remember exactly what she said to the woman, but she'll always remember the response.

"Your parents met here, had their first date here, broke up and got back together here." Here Eva paused, glancing up at her parents like she was sharing a fond memory with them.

Hermione's father rolled his eyes at her, but his cheeks were red and Hermione wondered what the story behind those words was.

Lori took over at this point, still moving around behind the counter, but being sure to glance at Hermione as she spoke. "Your dad proposed here, they spent their first breakfast as a married couple here, and your mum even gave birth to you here."

"Almost gave birth," her mum corrected. "Thankfully, we managed to arrive at a hospital before you popped out." Hermione's mum ruffled her hair with a chuckle.

"Your parent's whole relationship is written in these walls," Eva said with an oddly serious air about her. "Maybe one day you'll have your relationship written here as well."

Hermione decided in that moment she would come back with a boyfriend one day if only to make the two women smile at her like they smiled at her parents.

* * *

The first time she went into the cafe without her parents, her boyfriend was with her instead.

"This is Ron," Hermione introduced to the women. "Ron, this is Lori and Eva."

Ron waved at the women, but his eyes were focused on the coffee machine sitting behind them. "Nice to meet you," he muttered, and Hermione rolled her eyes at his rudeness.

"Don't mind him," she said with a huff. "He's fascinated by the simplest of things."

The women were starting to show their age in more obvious ways now. Eva walked with a cane and now wore glasses she still had to squint under. Lori's hands shook constantly, but thankfully not enough to hinder her movements and there was a hearing aid in her ear.

"Nice to meet you, Ron. I'm assuming you're the boyfriend?"

 _Still, some things are familiar_ , Hermione thought as she ran her eyes over Lori's bright hair and Eva's cheeky grin.

Ron turned from the coffee machine and stuttered an apology, his face red.

"Should we forgive his blatant rudeness, Lori?"

Ron's mouth fell open and his worried eyes turned to search for Hermione, who only raised an eyebrow at him. She found it almost impossible to keep a straight face, but somehow she managed.

"I don't know, Eva. It was very rude, and usually rude people are kicked out as soon as they're discovered."

Hermione smothered a chuckle at the dry tone Lori used and how the threat made Ron back up a step.

"But he is Hermione's boyfriend, so maybe we should make an exception," Eva said, staring hard at Ron without blinking.

"I—" Ron started only to be cut off.

"All rudeness must be punished." Lori didn't even look up from the vegetables she was chopping, her pink hair starting to slip out of the blue hair tie holding her it back.

"True." After Eva spoke, the pair fell silent for a moment. Lori stopped in her job and turned to look at Eva, while Eva finally broke eye contact with Ron and copied Lori's movements.

As they contemplated a suitable punishment, Ron backed away until he was slightly hidden behind Hermione.

"Hermione," Ron squeaked in an embarrassingly high voice.

Hermione just shrugged in response to his inquiry. "I've never seen them like this before," she lied, being careful to keep her face hidden. He could always tell when she lied nowadays.

"Fine, but I still think it's a little harsh," Eva said, turning to Ron but still obviously talking to Lori.

"He shouldn't have been rude," Lori replied in her no-nonsense voice. Hermione had only been on the receiving end of that voice once when she was seven. Looking at Ron, it was as effective on adults as it was with children.

"You have to take a photo wearing The Hat." Eva's voice took on a dark, almost threatening tone, but Hermione couldn't hold in her giggles anymore.

"The hat?" Ron asked, glancing at Hermione and raising an eyebrow. He took another step away from the women but also from Hermione. He looked like he was about to flee.

Eva grinned and pulled something out from behind the counter. The Hat was a sick looking green with silver stars, gold trimming and a red pompom on top. Hermione, once she saw the hat, cracked up again. Without the women even realising it, they'd just given Ron the perfect punishment. Slytherin and Gryffindor colours mixed together.

"The Hat," she said with a wild grin.

"No, please," Ron murmured, but his lips were tilting upwards as he stared at Hermione.

Lori turned around and smiled, leaning on the counter behind her, and Eva waved Ron over. He walked forward with small slow steps, but he eventually arrived at the counter. Eva didn't give him a change to back away again, pulling the hat onto his head and grinning.

Ron stumbled away, but when he saw the camera in Lori's hands, his shoulders slumped. Hermione watched as he prepared himself for a disastrous photograph that would have George (and Fred, if he was still here) teasing him forever when a glint appeared, and he turned to her.

"If I have to be in this photo, so do you." He jumped at her, almost losing the hat in the process, and she squealed when he picked her up bridal style. Hermione barely heard the click of the camera as she grabbed onto her boyfriend to prevent herself from falling, the whole time laughing with him.

When Hermione noticed Eva missing from behind the counter a little while later, she didn't think much of it until Eva came up to her later, a small package in her hands.

"I thought you might like this," she said, handing the package to her.

Hermione and Ron were in a rush to dinner at Molly's but Hermione thanked her with a smile and a wave. "I'll see you next time," she said rushing out the door.

When Hermione opened the package later that evening, she smiled and placed the small photo frame on her bedside table so she could look at it whenever she wants to.

* * *

The cafe became Hermione and Ron's place just like it had been her parent's. With Hermione's parents living their life in Australia without her (she tried to ignore how much that hurt) she liked the idea of being close to them in some way.

Hermione never arrived at the cafe without Ron, except the afternoon when she did.

It had been a ridiculously sunny day when Hermione stormed through the door to the cafe like a storm. The cafe was busy, as was usual for lunch time, but both Lori and Eva took a moment to come over to her to give her a coffee and piece of large chocolate cake ("On the house, dear. You look like you need it.")

Hermione wasn't sure what she was doing here, but it felt right to be here during the bad moments of her relationships as well as the good. When Eva had a free moment, she sat next to Hermione and smiled a little sadly.

"What happened?"

Hermione broke down in the woman's arms. She told him how Ron was snapping at her a lot recently. How he seemed to be working more and not wanting to spend time with her. She told Eva how when marriage came up this morning, Ron flipped out telling her he would never marry her.

She told Eva that she didn't want to be the typical whiny girlfriend, and she wasn't sure if she liked who they were together anymore. When Hermione ran out of words and tears, Eva handed her another slice of cake.

"You two belong together," Lori said, smiling at Hermione when she snapped her head up, having not even noticed Lori was there and listening.

"How do you know?"

Eva and Lori shared a look. "Experience," they said together.

Hermione looked outside at the sun and glared. It shouldn't look so happy when she wasn't. "You don't know for—"

The door to the cafe slamming open stopped Hermione's words, and her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"Ron—"

"No, don't speak." He was huffing like he'd run all the way, and Hermione wondered if the scene could become any more cliché. _Except there's no rain_ , she thought childishly.

"I know I'm not an easy boyfriend to have. I snore, I speak too loud, I jump to conclusions and I can't always control the words that come out of my mouth. If I have a bad day at work or a bad week, I'll bring my bad temper home and I can never say the right thing even when I try, but I am trying."

Ron stepped forward and grabbed Hermione's hands. She didn't pull away, though it was a close thing.

"I may not be your perfect boyfriend today or tomorrow, but I will be one day because you already are the perfect girlfriend for me and you deserve the best."

"You said you would never marry me," Hermione said, her heart softening at Ron's words, but her words as hard as steel.

"That was stupid. I shouldn't have said that, especially as it's not true. Not in the slightest, but I'm not ready yet."

Hermione could hear Ron shuffling on the spot and she could almost see his hands clenching in anger at himself. She still didn't turn around. She didn't want him to see her tears.

"I will never be with someone else, Hermione. I can't be. You are everything to me, so although it's not today, I promise it will happen one day." Ron placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her around. "I promise. I love you."

"Not today?" Hermione hated the watery quality to her voice and the way it made something in Ron's eyes darken in fear.

"N-not today, but if you can wait. . ."

Hermione smiled at him and leant forward to pull him close. "I can wait. I love you."

Ron sagged in her arms, closing his eyes and wrapping his own around her, pulling her impossibly close.

"That one's a memory for the wall," Hermione heard Lori whisper and she smiled as well. It definitely was a memory to keep.

* * *

It was a day she hated to remember, even if it was the day her new life really started.

Just back from a two-month long holiday to visit her parents, All Hermione wanted to do was sit in the cafe and spend some time with Lori and Eva. Somehow, she didn't think that was going to happen.

As Hermione stared at the boarded up windows of the cafe she'd fallen in love with all those years ago, her heart ached. The bright red closed stamp plastered on the front hurt her eyes. Ron, standing next to her squeezed her hand in comfort, but he looked as devastated as she felt.

"Hey, you two alright?"

Hermione didn't turn away from the cafe front, but she sensed Ron turning and heard his low voice talking to the man. She didn't listen or take in anything until Ron shook her shoulder.

"Come on, I know where Eva is. We'll go see her."

Hermione remembers asking Ron where Eva was and why he didn't mention Lori, but he only shook his head. "All I know is that Eva is at the hospital."

She doesn't remember the ride to the hospital. She doesn't remember walking through front doors and being directed to the cancer ward. She just remembers the feeling of intense sadness as she sees the once lively woman lying in the hospital bed like a frail old lady.

"Hermione," Eva said when they entered the room, "and Ron of course."

Ron said a soft hello, but Hermione couldn't make her voice work. Eva sounded so frail and _old_. She couldn't walk closer despite wanting to hold the woman's hand and Ron looked back at her with such sadness that she felt tears form.

"Hermione, sweetie, come here." Eva struggled to sit in the bed and Hermione found herself obeying without thinking.

Eva's hand found Hermione's and held in a light grip. She brushed the top of Hermione's hand with her thumb and smiled at her. "Don't look so sad, I'm eighty-nine years old after all."

Hermione sniffled and shook her head. "You were meant to live forever," she said despite knowing how childish and illogical she was being.

Eva just smiled at her and shook her head. "You know that's not how it works, dear."

A tear slipped down Hermione's cheek and she was quick to wipe it away. "Where's Lori?" she asked in a desperate attempt to distract herself. When Hermione saw Eva's eyes darken, she knew there would be no distraction.

"She passed away a few weeks ago," Eva said, tears obvious in her voice. "We've always done things together, so I guess dying in no different, hey?"

Hermione tried to suppress a sob, but it didn't quite work. She felt the tears slip down her cheeks and heard Ron pacing behind her, his own breaths ragged and harsh. "H-how?"

Eva shrugged, but it was obvious she was in a lot of pain remembering her friend's death. "She got a cold that never went away," she said with a tired voice. "You know, when I was diagnosed, I realised I was going to die before Lori and I was _relieved_."

Hermione could feel her whole body shaking but she didn't stop Eva. It was clear Eva needed to speak about this, and Hermione wanted to be the person that listened.

"I didn't want to be the one left behind, but here I am, alone," she said with a wave of her hand around the room.

"You're not alone," both Ron and Hermione said instantly. Jumping, Hermione turned to Ron with wide eyes who shrugged with a dopey and sad grin.

Eva smiled at them, pulling Hermione forward and waving her free hand at Ron, telling him to come over.

"I suppose I'm not." Eva shook her head and they stood for a moment in silence. When Hermione felt like she was about to start crying again, Eva spoke.

"Did I ever tell you my full name?"

Hermione laughed and shook her head. "No, you said it was too horrible to hear."

* * *

Five days later Evangeline Seraphina White was buried next to Lori Mabel Johnson, forever resting together.

* * *

"Ready?"

Hermione turns around and smiles at Ron as she wipes a stray tear away. "Yeah, just remembering," she says, looking around the cafe they'd spent so much time in.

Ron nods like he knows what she means. He probably does. "They'd have been so happy to see the place," he says, looking around as well.

"You think?" Hermione turns to Ron, needing reassurance that she was doing the right thing.

"Absolutely."

The lack of doubt in Ron's voice reassures her more than she thinks she needs, and she straightens up again. "Right," she says, walking to the front. "Let's do this together."

Ron walks to stand next to her, his hand settling on her's.

"Lori and Eva's cafe is open for business," she says, flipping the closed sign to open.

"And for new memories," Ron says next to her, linking their hands and moving away from the door.

Hermione smiles and looks at the board covered in pictures of past customers, the large one of Lori and Eva only months before their passing in the place of honour. "And for new memories."

* * *

(w.c 2,998)

WolfWinks-xx-


End file.
